Network traffic prioritization

ABSTRACT

Network prioritization is contemplated. The network prioritization may relate to prioritizing consumption of network services as a function of user priority. The user priority may be associated with the devices desiring consumption of network services in order to ensure higher priority users are granted network resources over lower priority users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No.13/537,707 filed Jun. 29, 2012, the disclosure and benefit of which isincorporated in its entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to prioritizing network traffic, such asbut not necessarily limited to prioritizing use of a upstream trafficrelative to an access point.

BACKGROUND

Network traffic prioritization generally relates to coordinating use ofnetwork resources consumed when facilitating electronic communicationsamongst a plurality of devices. Network traffic prioritization may bedesirable for virtually any type of network, such as a cable network, ahybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network, a cellular network, an opticalnetwork, a wireless or Wi-Fi network, a wireline network or other typesof network where bandwidth available to support desired communicationsmay be insufficient or unduly constrained if a certain number or all ofthe devices were to attempt communications at the same time. The abilityto prioritize network traffic may be beneficial in allocating networkresources to ensure subscribers receive access to a purchased or agreedupon amount of bandwidth (e.g., maintaining a desired quality of service(QOS)). Some networks may be unable to support or may experiencedetrimental effects when more than a certain number of devices areconsuming or attempt to consume network resources at the same time. Theability to prioritize network traffic may be beneficial in allocatingnetwork resources to selectively control the number of devices consumingnetwork received at the same time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system having network prioritization in accordanceone non-limiting aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a method of prioritizing networkservices in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates use of interframe spacing in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 having network prioritization inaccordance one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. The system10 is shown to include an access point 12 configured to facilitatenetwork-based communications between a provider network 14 and a clientnetwork 16. A priority controller 18 may be included to facilitateprioritizing usage of bandwidth or other resources related tofacilitating communications between the provider network 14 and theclient network 16. The provider network 14 may relate to any type ofnetwork, including cable network, a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network,a cellular network, an optical network, a wireless or Wi-Fi network, awireline network or other types of network supported by a serviceprovider in multiple system operator (MSO), such as one provided by atelevision service provider, a broadcast service provider, a satelliteservice provider, a cellular telephone service provider, a voice overInternet protocol (VoIP) service provider, an Internet service provider(ISP), etc. The client network 16 may correspond with a local wirelessor wireline network supported at a location of a subscriber of theservice provider.

The client network 16 is shown to be divided into a private network 18and a public network 20. The private network 18 may correspond with ahome network or other network having enhanced security or otherlimitations which require authorization or other consent prior to adevice 22 being granted access. The public network 20, in contrast, maycorrespond with a home network or other network, such as a Wi-Fihotspot, associated with the same access point 12 but which does notinclude the same security or other limitations on devices 24 authorizedfor access. This type of arrangement may be common where a subscriberdesires to support private networking with a first plurality of usersand their associated devices 22 while at the same time supporting publicor community networking with a second plurality of users and theirassociated devices 24. Such an environment of use may correspond with awireless network, particularly with a wireless network that supportsroaming, since such networks may experience situations in which devices22, 24 are frequently added and removed from the network, particularlywhen the public network 20 is unsecured or otherwise easily accessible.

While the public network 20 and the private network 18 are shown to besingular. The networks 18, 20 may be further sub-divided and/or bothnetworks 18, 20 may be private. The use of two private networks 18, 20may be beneficial in a situation in which the access point 12 isassociated with a service provider (not shown) having capabilities toprovide wireless or other network access at multiple client locations.In this type of arrangement, the service provider may be desired toprovide secure or private access for subscribers that roam from one ofthe provider's subscriber locations to another one of the provider'ssubscriber locations, e.g., a subscriber of network services may beenabled to access purchased services at another subscriber's locationupon completion of a roaming operation or sign-on operation. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/423,359, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety, relates to one type ofroaming operation where a device is able to move between subscriberlocations with zero sign-on (ZSO).

The access point 12 is shown to include a single antenna or radiointerface 30 for supporting wireless (illustrated) or wireline signalingassociated with both of the private and public networks 18, 20. Theantenna 30 is shown to interface with a cable modem 32 or other gatewayoperable to interface with the provider network 14. The antenna 30 maybe configured to interface signaling between the various devices 22, 24and the cable modem 32 for transmission between the provider 14 andclient network 16. The single antenna 30 is illustrated to demonstrateone non-limiting aspect of the present invention where networkprioritization is particularly relevant due to the single antenna 30optionally being required to simultaneously share available upstreambandwidth communications with the devices 22, 24. While the presentinvention applies equally to multiple antenna configurations or accesspoints 12 having other configurations where multiple devices may beenabled to communicate with the provider network 14 at the same time,the illustrated single antenna environment is particularly illustratedsince it presents a problem where a plurality of user devices 22, 24share a common radio interface i.e. a common resource governed by acontention based access method, such as in the manner described inCableLabs Wireless Specifications, Wi-Fi Requirements For Cable ModemGateways, WR-SP-WiFi-GW-IO2-120216, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

The priority controller 18 may be configured to facilitate prioritizingconsumption of network resources (e.g., upstream bandwidth) according tocharacteristics of the devices 22, 24 connected to the private andpublic networks 18, 20 and/or according to content/media for whichnetwork resources are desired. The consumption of network resources ispredominately described with respect to consumption of upstreambandwidth as there may be sufficient downstream bandwidth to supportsimultaneously communicating with multiple devices. The upstreambandwidth may correspond with an upstream path defined from the accesspoint 12 to the provider network 14 and/or a path defined from thedevices 22, 24 to the access point 12. As is common in HFC and othersystems where greater volumes of traffic are carried in a downstreamdirection, a greater amount of bandwidth may be allocated for downstreamcommunications, i.e. in a direction from the provider network 14 to theclient network 16, than that which is allocated for upstreamcommunications, i.e. in a direction from the client network to theprovider network. The present invention, however, applies equally toprioritizing communications in either one of the upstream and downstreamdirections, and as such, the present invention is not necessarilylimited to prioritizing upstream communications. The priority controller18 is shown to be a standalone entity but it may be included as part ofthe access point 12 and/or a device of the provider network 14 or clientnetwork 16.

The priority controller 18 may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium operable with a processor wherein thecomputer-readable medium includes computer-readable code embodiedtherein having instructions sufficient for facilitating the contemplatednetwork prioritization. The priority controller 18 may be configured inthis manner to facilitate instructing the access point 12 and/or one ormore of the devices 22, 24 to facilitate the contemplated networkprioritization. One non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates allocating bandwidth equally between each of the devices22, 24 connected to the private and public networks 18, 20 in anunbiased manner. This may include allowing each device 22, 24 equal timeto the upstream bandwidth such that the bandwidth is fairly distributedamongst all devices 22, 24. The illustrated configuration shows a singledevice 22 being connected to the private network 18 and 20 devices 24being connected to the public network 20. In this arrangement, the equalor unbiased participation strategy would essentially divide theavailable bandwidth equally between each device 22, 24 such that eachdevice 22, 24 receives ½ of the upstream bandwidth.

Another non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates aninequitable or biased manner of prioritizing, allocating, distributing,purchasing or otherwise proportioning network resources such thatcertain devices 22, 24 are provided priority over other devices 22, 24.This type of prioritization strategy may be beneficial over an unbiasedor equal sharing type of strategy since it may be useful in allowing theservice provider or operator of the client network 16 to identifycertain devices 22, 24 for enhanced access or greater access to networkresources. In the illustrated configuration, this prioritizationstrategy contemplates deviating from a 1 to 21 allocation of availablebandwidth to a customized allocation. The customized allocation mayinclude proportioning bandwidth between the private and public networks18, 20, e.g., providing each network 18, 20 with half of the availablebandwidth or some other portion, such as a 75/25 split, such thatdevices 22, 24 within each network are allocated access to some portionof that network's allocation, e.g., each network's allocation may beshared equally or unequally between the connected devices 22, 24.Optionally, the participation may also include allocating bandwidth tothe devices 22, 24 is individually or independently of the network 18,20 to which they are connected. This may allow the priority controller18 to specify or allocate bandwidth particularly to each device 22, 24.

The ability to individually prioritize use of network resources for eachof the devices 22, 24 may be beneficial in the illustrated configurationwhere the single antenna 30 is used to support multiple networks 18, 20,i.e., the private and public networks 18, 20, but such a prioritizationstrategy may also be beneficial in an environment where the access point12 supports a single network or multiple antennas are included ormultiple networks. One non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates prioritizing network resources according to the content ormedia desired for access by the requesting device. This capability maybe beneficial in allocating or prioritizing more bandwidth to devices22, 24 which are accessing important content or media, e.g. video orvoice, over devices which are accessing less important content or mediaor content that is more tolerant to slower data rates, e.g., datadownload. The ability to prioritize services may also be beneficial inallowing Dad to prioritize his computer over the kids computers. Theability to tailor network resources according to the content/media beenaccessed may be beneficial; however, it may require the prioritycontroller or other network resource to monitor the media/content beingaccessed. This can be a cumbersome, particularly if such a device 18 isrequired to keep track of values or other representations regarding theprioritization of each particular type of media/content since thequantity and volume of contents may be relatively large and require vastamounts of data input and storage in order to represent its priority.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplatesprioritizing network resources according to a user associated with eachdevice 22, 24. This may include grouping the users into one of theplurality of user groups where each user group is assigned a certainpriority. This type of allocation may be beneficial over media/contentallocation since it eliminates the need to identify the media/contentbeing accessed. The user identification may occur upon connection orauthentication of the device 22, 24 with the client network 16, such aspart of a ZSO or other sign-on operation. Optionally, the useridentification may include a relation to subscription services or otherfactor that may be useful in identifying users having priority overother users, i.e., users that purchase higher QOS or greater tiers ofservice may be granted priority over other users. One such type of usergrouping may correspond with determining whether the associated device22, 24 is connected to the private network 18 or the public network 20,i.e., the device 22, 24 may be included within a private designated usergroup if connected to the private network 18 and within a publicdesignated user group if connected to the public network 20. Optionally,a service set identifier (SSID) used to identify each of the privatenetwork 18 and the public network 20 may be inspected to determinewhether a user of a device 22, 24 should be within the privatedesignated user or the public designated user group.

Any number of user group designations may be included in order tofacilitate providing stratification or otherwise differentiatingpriority of one user/device 22, 24 over another. This may include one ormore of the user groups having subsets. In the illustrated public andprivate designated user groupings, each user may be assigned to a subgrouping, e.g., certain users may be included within a highersubgrouping than others in order to prioritize them. Alternatively,rather than relying on sub groupings, the users may be associated withpriority values. The priority values may be assigned as a function ofthe currently connected devices 22, 24 and/or allocated periodically,such as when a new device 22, 24 connects the access point 12 or otherlocation associated with the service provider. Users may be shuffledbetween a high priority group and a low priority group periodically toachieve a desired bandwidth division ratio set by the policy. Theshuffling may be based on a non-use period such devices are grantedaccess to bandwidth after a period of non-use to insure devices 22, 24are not starved of access. The shuffling may also be based on contentbeing requested for transmission such that higher priority content maybe transmitted over lower priority content even though it is beingrequested by a lower priority device. Once priority values are assignedto each user/device 22, 24 desiring consumption network resources, apriority ranking may occur where devices 22, 24 having higher priorityvalues are ranked to use network resources ahead of devices 22, 24having lower priority values. The priority controller 18 may implement aprivate value policy according to a ranking algorithm or other featureto facilitate processing the various priority rankings andorganizing/optimizing them in a manner sufficient to identify the one ormore devices 22, 24 authorized to communicate a particular point intime.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart 40 of a method of prioritizing networkservices in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. Block 42 relates to facilitate prioritizing usage of upstreambandwidth or other network resources according to user priority. Theuser priority may be based on user associated with devices attempting toconsume network resources. As noted above, the user priority may bebased on priority values or other factors individually organizedaccording to a user of the connected device. Various grades of prioritymay be designated in order to facilitate prioritizing one user or oneuser device over another user or another user device. The methodillustrated in FIG. 2 provides additional detail regarding process oroperations that may be undertaken to facilitate the contemplated networkprioritization. While the noted processes are provided, additionalprocesses or means for prioritizing one user over another or forcoordinating execution of a corresponding priority ranking may beimplemented without deveating from scope contemplation of the presentinvention.

Block 44 relates to implementing an interframe spacing (IFS) policy. TheIFS policy may be implemented with the priority controller providingcorresponding instructions to the access point and/or the devices. TheIFS policy relates to controlling the devices or instructing the devicesto control themselves in a manner which prioritizes or otherwisecontrols their access to upstream bandwidth. Various wireless networkingprotocols, such as but not necessarily limited to Zig-Bee (ZigBee RF4CESpecification Version 1.0, ZigBee Document 094945r00ZB, Mar. 17, 2009),802.11 WiFi (IEEE: “Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) andPhysical Layer (PHY) Specifications”, IEEE Std. 802.11-2012) thedisclosure of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety, may rely upon IFS to ensure a single device transmits data toconsume upstream bandwidth at one time. The IFS policy generally relatesto assigning each device desiring transmission a period of time in whichthey must listen and wait before deciding the channel is clear fortransmission, which may correspond with transmission/completion of aframe. This period may be generally referred to as an IFS or IFSinterval. IFS is a method used in a contention based medium accessprotocols for governing access to the medium.

Block 46 relates to implementing the IFS policy according to arepurposed policy. The repurposed policy may relate to specifying IFSsaccording to a user of the corresponding user device. This may includespecifying IFSs such that devices associated with higher priority valuesare provide a shorter IFS than devices associated with lower priorityvalues. FIG. 3 illustrates use of IFS according to IEEE 802.11 wherecertain IFSs may be repurposed in accordance with one non-limitingaspect of the present invention. The repurposed policy may includerepurposing IFSs according to associated user in order to facilitateuser-based prioritization of network resources. The illustrateddescription with respect to 802.11 is provided for non-limiting andexemplary purposes as being representative of one type of protocol whichrelies upon IFS. The present invention fully contemplates its use andapplication with any protocol or any environment employing IFS or ananalogous timing or spacing methodology may be employed to controlsignal transmissions and/or messaging.

The IFSs may include a short interframe space (SIFS), a distributed(coordination function) interframe space (DIFS), a point (coordinationfunction) interframe space (PIFS), and an arbitration interframe space(AIFS). The SIFS may be used to separate frames being transmitted by asingle user in succession and/or the required acknowledgement frametransmitted by the receiving station of a transmission. The DIFS may beused to separate transmissions between two distinct users on a commoncontention based transmission medium governed by a distributedcoordination function. The PIFS may be used to separate transmissionsbetween two distinct users on a common contention based transmissionmedium governed by a point coordination function during the contentionfree period (CFP). The AIFS may be used to provide differing accesspriority to the contention based transmission medium based on someselection criteria e.g. traffic type, client SSID association, useridentity, etc.

The AIFSs may be associated with one or more of the user groups in orderto facilitate prioritizing the users associated therewith. As shown,three priority groups are illustrated, including a high priority user, amedium priority user, and a low priority user. Users may be categorizedwithin each of these user groups according to information exchange withaccess point at the time of connection and/or after the time ofconnection should the operations of the devices change. A user deviceassociated with the higher priority grouping may be assigned a shorterAIFS than those associated with the medium and low priority usergroupings in order to facilitate prioritizing their transmissions overthe other user groups. In the event multiple users are included withinone or more of the user groups, a contention window may be assigned toeach of the user's to prioritize them relative to the other users withinthe same user group. The contention windows are illustrated forexemplary non-limiting purposes to correspond with 9μs slots countedrelative to an AIFS associated with the corresponding user group. Uponexpiration of the corresponding IFS and/or contention window, thecorresponding device may be authorized to transmit i.e., to consumenetwork resources.

Returning to FIG. 2, Block 48 relates to implementing the IFS policyaccording to a multiplier policy. The multiplier policy may includeadding a multiplier to an interframe spacing value (IFS) selected by thedevices to use the upstream bandwidth. The multiplier may be used to setan IFS and/or to adjust an IFS previously set for each device desiringconsumption of network resources. The selected multiplier may bedetermined by the priority controller for each device according to itscorresponding priority value such that devices associated with higherpriority values are provided lower multipliers than devices with lowerpriority values. For exemplary, non-limiting purposes, the multiplier isshown to be used with DIFSs assigned to each of the devices. Themultiplier may be used to multiply the DIFS value according to theassociated users priority so that higher priority users have precedenceover lower priority users. During the client association process with anaccess point, a DIFS Multiplier (DIFSM) may be exchanged which theclient then uses in conjunction with Carrier Sense Multiple Access withconditional access (CSMA/CA) algorithm/specification, the disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Any time theclient uses the DIFS, the client would instead use the DIFS×DIFSM todetermine the proper interframe space.

Block 50 relates to a user prioritization strategy according to arequest to send (RTS)/clear to send (CTS) policy. The RTS/CTS policy maybe based on requiring the devices to transmit a RTS message and toreceive a CTS message prior to being authorized to consume networkresources, i.e., to transmit upstream messages. This may include apriority controller instructing an access point to control issuance ofthe CTS messages according to the priority values of the associateddevices such that the CTS messages associated with higher prioritydevices are issued prior to CTS messages associated with lower prioritydevices. FIG. 3 illustrates the RTS message and the CTS message. As seenin the FIG. 3, after a device has waited the appropriate IFS+CW butprior to sending a data packet, the device sends an RTS packet to theintended receiver. Upon receipt of an RTS frame the receiver waits for aperiod of time equal to a SIFS then responds with a CTS message if thereceiver is available for communication. After the receipt of a CTSmessage the transmitting device can precede with sending data frames. Ifthe CTS is not received the transmitting device must wait the proper IFSbefore attempting to send another RTS. With this approach, a two-phasedapproach may be implemented to allow an access point to structure andenforce priority and bandwidth on the uplink air interface. A policybased RTS/CTS mechanism may be used for larger transmissions, i.e.,those above a threshold selected by the client device, prioritycontroller, and/or the access point. At the same time, a default levelof priority can be given to specific client, or a specific group ofclients, that applies to all transmission opportunities regardless ofthe size of the intended transmission. In the event the RTS/CTSmechanism has a transmission size threshold that is configured in theclient, to ensure priority is applied to small packets as well as large,one non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates amodification to the DIFS.

As supported above, one non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates a mechanism for provisioning and enforcing up-link trafficpriority and bandwidth allocation given to a client or group of clients,including one which is sufficient for use with an 802.11 configurednetwork. This may include configuring and enforcing traffic prioritylevels and bandwidth allocation, including providing clients differinglevels of access to a transmission channel. A RTS/CTS mechanism,Request-To-Send and Clear-To-Send, can be configured to allow an accesspoint to make a policy based decision rather than putting the decisionmaking on the client by simply using a medium based decision, i.e.sensing whether the medium is clear for transmission. In this way, whena specific client, or a client from a specific group e.g. a client on agiven SSID, an 802.11b client, etc., sends an RTS to the access point,the access point could use a set of rules from a preconfigured ordynamically created policy, as well as the medium status as the basisfor the decision of whether to reply with a CTS or not. In this way, theaccess point could enforce increased management the air interface uplinkbandwidth and resources.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates enforcingpriority or scheduling in the uplink of an 802.11 network. The mediaaccess mechanism, CSMA/CA, may be designed to prioritize use accordingto user groups or other grouping instead of allowing fair access to themedia, e.g., instead of allowing each device connected to the networkequal access or limiting access according to media content type beentransmitted, one non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates joining access according to user or a grouping of the user.This capability may be declared beneficial in scenarios in whichmultiple clients or networks share a single transmission channel. Inthese scenarios it may be beneficial to allow priority access to a givenclient or group of clients. This invention is particularly applicableand key to the MSOs who deploy or will deploy community Wi-Fi where thebroadband subscriber's uplink wireless traffic should take priority overthe public roaming traffic, such as to ensure subscription-basedsubscribers are provided greater priority or greater access than roamingor public (i.e., nonpaying) users.

The present invention may be beneficial with operators havingcapabilities to deploy community Wi-Fi products in which aMSO-controlled residential Wi-Fi AP broadcasts two or more SSIDs from asingle radio interface. Due to the single radio interface, the SSIDswill be competing for transmission time on a common RF channel. Onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates providing asolution sufficient for the MSOs to control provisioning and enforcingpriority and bandwidth allocation in this scenario with minimal changesto the client device. With minimal changes to the client device agreater number of clients may be affected thus improving the performanceof this method.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havinga plurality of non-transitory instructions sufficient to facilitate,when executed with a processor, prioritizing access when a firstwireless network and a second wireless network share a radio frequency(RF) channel, the non-transitory instructions being sufficient for:determining a duration of non-use for the first wireless network, theduration of non-use being an amount of time elapsing since a firstwireless device transmitted over the first wireless network using the RFchannel; determining a first interframe spacing (IFS) value for thefirst wireless device, the first IFS value specifying an amount of timethe first device is to wait for the RF channel to be clear beforetransmitting over the first wireless network; when the duration ofnon-use fails to exceed a threshold, setting a second IFS value for asecond wireless device to be greater than the first IFS value, thesecond IFS value specifying an amount of time the second device is towait for the RF channel to be clear before transmitting over the secondwireless network; and when the duration of non-use exceeds thethreshold, setting a third IFS value for the second wireless device tobe shorter than the second IFS value, the third IFS value specifying anamount of time the second device is to wait for the RF channel to beclear before transmitting over the second wireless network.
 2. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising thenon-transitory instructions being sufficient for generating the secondIFS value by multiplying the first IFS value with a first multiplier,the first multiplier being a numerical value greater than
 1. 3. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising thenon-transitory instructions being sufficient for generating the thirdIFS value by multiplying the first IFS value with a second multiplier,the second multiplier being a numerical value less than
 1. 4. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 1 further comprising non-transitoryinstructions being sufficient for generating the second IFS value byadding time to the first IFS value.
 5. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 1 further comprising the non-transitory instructions beingsufficient for generating the third IFS value by subtracting time fromthe first IFS value.
 6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 furthercomprising the non-transitory instructions being sufficient fordetermining the first IFS value from a default level of priority set forthe first wireless network.
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6further comprising the non-transitory instructions being sufficient fordetermining the default level of priority from information transmittedfrom a first access point operating the first wireless network to asecond access point operating the second wireless network.
 8. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 6 further comprising thenon-transitory instructions being sufficient for determining the defaultlevel of priority from messaging transmitted from a first access pointoperating the first wireless network to a second access point operatingthe second wireless network, the first wireless access point beingremotely located from the second wireless access point and within asignaling range associated therewith.
 9. A method for prioritizingaccess when a first wireless network and a second wireless network sharea radio frequency (RF) channel, the method comprising: determining aduration of non-use for the first wireless network, the duration ofnon-use being an amount of time elapsing since a first wireless devicetransmitted over the first wireless network using the RF channel;determining a first interframe spacing (IFS) value for the firstwireless device, the first IFS value specifying an amount of time thefirst device is to wait for the RF channel to be clear beforetransmitting over the first wireless network; when the duration ofnon-use fails to exceed a threshold, setting a second IFS value for asecond wireless device to be greater than the first IFS value, thesecond IFS value specifying an amount of time the second device is towait for the RF channel to be clear before transmitting over the secondwireless network; and when the duration of non-use exceeds thethreshold, setting a third IFS value for the second wireless device tobe shorter than the second IFS value, the third IFS value specifying anamount of time the second device is to wait for the RF channel to beclear before transmitting over the second wireless network.
 10. Themethod of claim 9 further comprising generating the second IFS value bymultiplying the first IFS value with a first multiplier, the firstmultiplier being a numerical value greater than
 1. 11. The method ofclaim 9 further comprising generating the third IFS value by multiplyingthe first IFS value with a second multiplier, the second multiplierbeing a numerical value less than
 1. 12. The method of claim 9 furthercomprising generating the second IFS value by adding time to the firstIFS value.
 13. The method of claim 9 further comprising generating thethird IFS value by subtracting time from the first IFS value.
 14. Themethod of claim 9 further comprising determining the first IFS valuefrom a default level of priority set for the first wireless network. 15.The method of claim 14 further comprising determining the default levelof priority from information transmitted from a first access pointoperating the first wireless network to a second access point operatingthe second wireless network.
 16. The method of claim 14 furthercomprising determining the default level of priority from messagingtransmitted from a first access point operating the first wirelessnetwork to a second access point operating the second wireless network,the first wireless access point being remotely located from the secondwireless access point and within a signaling range associated therewith.17. A system comprising: a first wireless network; a second wirelessnetwork sharing a radio frequency (RF) channel with the first wirelessnetwork; a controller having a non-transitory computer-readable mediumwith a plurality of instructions executable with an included controllerto facilitate prioritizing access when the first wireless network andthe second wireless network share the RF channel, the plurality ofinstructions being sufficient for: i) determining a duration of non-usefor the first wireless network, the duration of non-use being an amountof time elapsing since a first wireless device transmitted over thefirst wireless network using the RF channel; ii) determining a firstinterframe spacing (IFS) value for the first wireless device, the firstIFS value specifying an amount of time the first device is to wait forthe RF channel to be clear before transmitting over the first wirelessnetwork; iii) when the duration of non-use fails to exceed a threshold,setting a second IFS value for a second wireless device to be greaterthan the first IFS value, the second IFS value specifying an amount oftime the second device is to wait for the RF channel to be clear beforetransmitting over the second wireless network; and iv) when the durationof non-use exceeds the threshold, setting a third IFS value for thesecond wireless device to be shorter than the second IFS value, thethird IFS value specifying an amount of time the second device is towait for the RF channel to be clear before transmitting over the secondwireless network.
 18. The system of claim 17 further comprising theplurality of instructions being sufficient for generating the second IFSvalue by multiplying the first IFS value with a first multiplier, thefirst multiplier being a numerical value greater than
 1. 19. The systemof claim 17 further comprising the plurality of instructions beingsufficient for generating the third IFS value by multiplying the firstIFS value with a second multiplier, the second multiplier being anumerical value less than
 1. 20. The system of claim 17 furthercomprising the plurality of instructions being sufficient for generatingthe second IFS value by adding time to the first IFS value.